The intensifying fight for the No. 2 Democratic leadership job in the House is evolving into an early test of the power of the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, after her decision to throw her public support behind Representative John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Murtha and his allies had played important role in questioning the war in Iraq, which helped legitimize Democratic opposition to the war and turn it into a winning campaign issue, making him the natural choice for majority leader at a time when Iraq policy will dominate Congress. Pelosi, now House Democratic leader, noted in a letter to Murtha on Sunday that he had requested her support and saluted him for having helped lead the Democratic charge against the Iraq War, a key issue in the November 7 elections.
According to Murtha, war is a grotesque mistake. It is not making US safer, nor making military stronger; it is damaging America’s reputation in the world. He first called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, because he was breaking international law, and the opinion of the American people. He considered Rumsfeld as an architect behind failed policy in Iraq.
As Democrats, they must convince the American people that they know them. They work for them every day, they must understand their hopes, their dreams, and their aspirations they have for their children, and the challenges that they face. They should take the country in a new direction for every one of those people, for working families in America.
